THE LIFE OF HAFEZ

Hafez was born in Shiraz in south-western Persia (modern Iran) in approximately 1320 A.D., twenty two years before the birth of Chaucer and a year before the death of Dante. He was named Shams-ud-din, which means ‘Sun of Faith,’ Mohammed. Later when he began to write poetry he selected Hafez for his pen-name or takhallus. ‘Hafez’ is the title given to one who has learnt the whole of the Koran by heart and Hafez claimed to have done this in fourteen different ways.